Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker yesterday said that legislative consideration of a financing plan for the Bucks' proposed $500M arena in downtown Milwaukee "will have to wait until other big-ticket issues such as K-12 school funding and cuts to the University of Wisconsin System are dealt with first," according to a front-page piece by Don Walker of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Gov. Walker's comments "came after a new Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed there won't be any additional money from tax collections to ease anticipated budget cuts during the next two years." Representatives of the Bucks, the city, the county, legislative leaders and members of Walker's staff "have been meeting all week," and yesterday met in Madison. Gov. Walker "provided no update on whether any progress was being made" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 5/7). In Milwaukee, Sean Ryan reported the Bucks' "offer for land in the Park East corridor to build retail, housing and offices around its planned downtown arena may not get a public review by the Milwaukee County Board until next month." The Bucks' ownership group in early April "submitted an offer," and is "floating plans for a new neighborhood there, mixing housing, retail and office space and a Bucks practice facility" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/5).
